1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope, or more particularly, an endoscope having two bending portions of a first bending portion and a second bending portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Endoscopes have an elongated insertion member thereof inserted into the three-dimensionally complexly tortuous and narrow lumen of the stomach, the intestine, or any other organ of a living body or the three-dimensionally complexly tortuous and narrow hollow of a machine in conformity with the shape of the lumen or hollow. The insertion member of the endoscope must therefore be angled three-dimensionally finely.
For example, Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 5-16857 describes an endoscope having two bending portions of a first bending portion and a second bending portion. The first bending portion is the distal portion of an elongated insertion member and has a plurality of joint pieces concatenated so that the joint pieces can rotate freely. The second bending portion is located at the proximal end of the first bending portion. A hand-held unit having a control section that is used to bend the first bending portion and second bending portion includes one angling mechanism. The sole angling mechanism enables selective bending of the first bending portion and second bending portion.
However, the structure having the first bending portion that bends in two directions like the one disclosed in the Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 5-16857 has a drawback that when the first bending portion alone is used to perform the same examination as ordinary endoscopic examination, the maneuverability of the structure is poor.